Singapore: India’s biggest oil refiner Reliance Industries began trading crude and refined products in Singapore earlier this month.
The Singapore unit will have its own trading book, Mike Omar, the head of Reliance Global Energy Services, told reporters on Monday. The company hopes to grow the desk over time, in line with portfolio growth, Omar said.
Mumbai-based Reliance is looking to expand fuel supplies to markets including Indonesia and Australia. The refiner will lease storage facilities in Singapore for gasoline and for diesel blending to supply markets in southeast Asia and Australia, Omar told press.
Reliance’s new Singapore unit is a member of the trade ministry’s Global Traders Programme, which offers lower tax rates to businesses that set up trading operations in the country.
The company currently trades refined products such as naphtha and fuel oil from Mumbai, and will continue to do so, Omar told press.
In June, India’s state-run Bharat Petroleum Corporation was reported to be planning to open an office in Singapore from which to trade crude oil and expand its global reach. [25/11/14]
